Understanding disease in seaweeds - from molecular mechanisms to ecological consequences

In the last ten years, the effects of disease on natural marine communities have become increasingly apparent. It is likely that human impacts via pollution or climate change have played a major role in the prevalence and severity of these diseases. We use observational and molecular methods to investigate the interplay between bacterial virulence and environmental factors, such as temperature, light and nutrients, and natural bacterial inhibitors to understand the development and impact of disease on seaweeds.

Potential honours projects in this area could include:

1. Characterisation of pathogen traits and their role in disease progression.
2. Investigating the host response to specific pathogens.
3. Assessing the prevalence of seaweed pathogens in the marine environment 4) determining host range of known marine pathogens. These are just a few areas I am more than happy to talk to you about your own ideas around this topic.

Supervisor: A/Prof. Suhelen Egan